Legacy of an unusual woman: Rangubai Palace in Belagavi

In the crowded streets of Raviwar Peth in Belagavi is an old stone mansion that has fallen on hard times. Potted plants grow in the balcony but small saplings grow on the building. A plaque bears the name Shri Rangubai Palace, and the year 1931.

Go around the building and you notice the unusual cast-iron railings of the balconies. A closer look reveals the design to be of a woman with her head covered and with ‘Shri Rangubai Palace, Belgaum’ written in Devanagari script.

Who was Rangubai?

I turned to historian Smita Surebankar from the INTACH Belagavi Chapter, author of the book Architectural Splendours of Belagavi. “It was not easy finding out about Rangubai,” said Surebankar. “There are different stories about her.”

A few years ago, as part of her research, Surebankar interviewed some old-timers who lived near the Rangubai Palace, including some who were more than 80 years old. According to these residents, Rangubai had been a courtesan. According to another rags-to-riches version, Rangubai was born poor and then became a wealthy philanthrope through hard work. Perhaps both stories are partially true.

Surebankar informs me that Rangubai was born in Balekundri, a village about 12 km east of Belagavi. When her father Ramachandra Rao died at a young age, she and her mother Balabai moved to Belagavi where her mother set up a business selling butter.

Balabai’s business grew and soon she was travelling to other towns, sometimes accompanied by Rangubai. On one such visit to Pune, Rangubai came in contact with a jeweller and was fascinated by his process of assessing the value of diamonds and pearls. The jeweller took Rangubai under his wing and taught her the tricks of the trade. He also helped set up her own shop in Pune.

The story goes that in 1920, Laxmanrao Bhosale of Nagpur visited Pune and was impressed with Rangubai’s acumen. Bhosale was a member of the so-called junior branch of the royal Bhosale family. He invited Rangubai to move to his residence in Nagpur. There, she developed an interest in Ayurveda. It is said that she even started her own manufacturing unit producing Ayurvedic medicines.

Four years later, Rangubai returned to Belgaum. Shortly after, in 1927, the foundation stone for the Rangubai Palace was laid. The building was inaugurated in 1929 but work on it was completed only around 1931.

Rangubai was active in Belgaum’s social and political circles. She is believed to have contested but lost the general elections that were held in 1937. Popular lore also credits her with owning a theatre company, and a company that manufactured Ayurvedic medicines.

She established the Shri Rangubai Saheb Bhosale Trust in 1937. Her support of education is one reason why she was later also called Tyagamurti Rangubai.

Rangubai was a woman who contained multitudes. Records show that she was active in Belagavi’s cultural circuit. Known as Princess Rangubai, she enjoyed and patronised dance, including classical dance. The large hall on the second floor of Rangubai Palace once hosted various cultural programmes.

Rangubai Bhosale died in 1962. The Rangubai Palace that she built now houses the Rangubai Bhosale Girls High School in its upper floors. The ground floor is currently being rented out to a political party.

The structure

Like many other buildings in Belagavi from the early 1900s, the Rangubai Palace is built of black basalt and has a prominent arched facade. The pillars, arches and quoins are accentuated with beige coloured stone, which strikingly contrast with the black basalt.

The compound wall which Surebankar says had an entrance flanked with two lions, was lost to road widening a few years ago so the erstwhile palace now opens directly onto the street. Numerous wires run above and in front of the building. Ad hoc additions along the side further mar its façade.

Entering the small entrance hall on the ground floor, the first thing I see is a large portrait of Rangubai Bhosale. But as I stand in front of the determined-looking woman in the painting, my eyes wander to the grimy floor, the rusting beams of the jack arch roof, the missing stained glass in the ventilators and the broken shuttered windows.

Rangubai’s palace, legacy and story all seem to be fading into the past.

(Meera Iyer is the author of ‘Discovering Bengaluru’ and the Convenor of INTACH Bengaluru Chapter.)